Florida State Cashing On Winston, Championship

Harkening to the best Bobby Bowden years, Florida State's season ticket sales are performing well after the national championship and Heisman Trophy. Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images.

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Florida State's season ticket sales are off to a rousing start as the Seminoles football program already has capitalized on its BCS championship and the Heisman Trophy won by Jameis Winston.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the school has sold 8,000 season ticket packages compared to 3,000 at this time last year. About 1,100 are new accounts, while fewer than 50 people have canceled.

“Everyone is pretty much keeping what they have or increasing, which is what we've seen,” director of ticket operations Jack Chatham said. “Most people that are increasing are maxing out what they can get at their booster level or they're upping their booster level to get more tickets. It seems like people are ordering adding two, three, four tickets each. So it's been very, very brisk.”

Winston will return to play quarterback for at least one more season, as he won't be eligible for the NFL draft until 2015. Winston has publicly stated his intention to play two more seasons at FSU.

In addition to its star quarterback vying to become the second player ever to win back-to-back Heisman Trophies, the Seminoles are the clear favorites to repeat their ACC title. They practically waltzed through the conference in 2013, including a 51-14 win at a Clemson team ranked in the Top 5 at the time and a 45-7 trouncing of Duke in the conference championship.

“I think what the national championship did is, normally, people wait until after spring practice and wait until the summer to buy their tickets,” FSU senior associate athletic director Monk Bonasorte said. “I think people are realizing now those tickets might not be there.”

Renewals are due March 28, so Florida State expects a windfall still to come. According to Florida State's athletic department website, a season ticket to the seven home games starts at $305, or $43.57 per ticket, but also comes with a mandatory Seminole Boosters donation between $300 and $12,000 depending on the location and number of tickets.

Donation aside, it seems like a decent per-ticket value considering the cost of sporting events in 2014. FSU will host Clemson, Notre Dame and Florida this season.